Attendance at Lafayette's Sanchez Elementary was low, with just 60 percent of students coming to class every day.

Parents, often stressed and struggling to provide their families with the basics, weren't engaged in the school. The school's parent/teacher association had disbanded from lack of interest. Test scores were "abysmal," with 25 percent of third-graders reading proficiently based on statewide tests. Behavior problems were high.

As Principal Doris Candelarie and the teachers looked at how to turn around the small school, where three-fourths of the 320 students are low-income, they decided it wasn't enough to focus on how best to teach the students.

They needed to reach the parents, too.

Their solution was to open the Family Resource Center in January 2010.

"We know that we cannot close the achievement gap or increase student success without the involvement of our families," Candelarie said. "The focus of the Sanchez Family Resource Center is on collaborating with families in order to have students at school, on time and ready to learn."

Lachell Martinez, who has a fifth-grade daughter at Sanchez, said the school is helping her family work through the immigration process, helps with resources to pay bills, assists with food and is helping with Christmas gifts for all three of their children.

Maya Gonzalez, left, and her twin sister, Ruby, work on drawings during a Sanchez Elementary after-school program while their aunt and uncle take a parenting class. The school opened its Family Resource Center in January 2010 in an attempt to increase student success.
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CLIFF GRASSMICK
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Her husband has taken GED classes at the school, while her children have received extra help with reading and took classes through the school's after-school program. If there's ever an issue at school, she said, teachers are "on it" and work with her and her husband to find a solution.

"They're not just a school, they're family," she said. "They're so wonderful. They've helped my family so much. They go above and beyond. I wish every school was like this."

Candelarie said the support for parents has been a key component in the school's improved attendance and achievement.

The percentage of students attending school 95 percent of the time is up to 88. Chronic absenteeism dropped from 22 percent to 8 percent. Statewide test scores are up, with 44 percent of third-graders reading proficiently. The parent/teacher association is active, and there's a waiting list for the adult education classes.

Parents offered coaching, resources, education

As those at the school began looking for solutions a few years ago, they started by talking to parents of chronically absent children, seeking to better understand what they needed to get their children to school.

Overwhelmed by the range of needs, they initially felt they had to be "all things to all people," said Ashley Randall, the Sanchez family resource coordinator.

Realizing that was impossible, she said, the focus shifted to partnering with community agencies. Along with connecting families with resources, the center has set up parenting, English and GED classes at the school.

"We've grown from nothing to this really active class schedule for adults," Randall said. "It helps build trust in the school. We really believe parents want the best for their kids. Sometimes, they just need a little support."

The school provides three levels of assistance.

The first, available to all the school's families, includes student recognition for good attendance, parent coaching, parent education classes, immunization clinics and developmental screenings for children from birth to age 5.

For the 20 percent of parents whose children are struggling to meet the attendance goals, the school provides partnerships with community organizations to help them meet basic needs and home visits to model the positive discipline strategies used at the school.

Those families, for example, participate in the food bag distribution program, with the school functioning as a pick-up center for Sister Carmen's food bank for families who lack transportation.

Then there are the 5 percent of families who need more intensive support. For those families, the school offers direct case management, working with the Department of Health and Human Services, Safehouse, medical providers or law enforcement, as needed.

"I watch attendance and achievement and target support," Randall said. "The parents who are struggling the most are often the least likely to ask for help."

Sanchez started its program with a partnership with Intercambio, a Boulder-based nonprofit that provides English classes and other support for immigrants in Boulder, Lafayette and Longmont.

"Sanchez was really trying to engage entire families," said Intercambio executive director and co-founder Lee Shainis. "The English classes were a way to get parents into the school and feeling comfortable there. It builds their confidence in general."

Since then, the school added a Colorado State Extension nutrition education class, a Boulder County "Love and Logic" parenting class, Parenting Place classes and GED and English classes. There are also parent/child classes for children from birth to age 3.

'A better future for my kids'

On a recent afternoon, some parents worked on a paper on the history of Christmas in their GED class, while others practiced using English idioms -- "hit the books," for example -- in sentences. Both classes are offered by Boulder Valley's Family Literacy Program, which comes to Sanchez three afternoons a week.

While they were learning, their children either were in Sanchez's after-school "Dragon Discovery" program or in childcare provided by the Family Literacy Program.

Anna Laura Marquez, who has three children at Sanchez, takes both the Family Literacy English classes and the English class offered by Intercambio.

"I like to learn another language," she said. "I want to learn English to help my children with homework. When I come to talk to the teacher, it's easier. It's sometimes hard, but I study and study it."

Denise and Rene Rojas, who have two children at Sanchez, are both taking the GED class.

Denise Rojas said she's trained as a cosmetologist but wants her GED so she can go to college and then teach cosmetology. Another goal is to be able to help her kids with homework as the work gets harder, she said.

"I'm learning a lot," she said.

Added Rene Rojas, who recently started volunteering as a school crossing guard, "It's been really helpful. There are better opportunities if you have a GED. I want a better future for my kids."

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